The Police Commission conducted an evaluation session Saturday for its final five candidates to replace former Chief Ed Nadriczny, who retired in April. At the evaluation, candidates went through a number of scenarios with a panel of three judges -- each of them a retired area police chief, Cole said. The judges will also evaluate a written response from the candidates on a subject they were assigned.

Once the judges have completed their evaluations, they will submit a report to the Police Commission, said Cole, who has served on the commission for the last six years.

"It was a huge success," he said. "It went exactly as intended to ... Any of the five would make a very effective police chief here."

All five of the candidates reside in the state of Connecticut, and one already works for the department.

Cole said the hiring decision is, by statute, at the sole discretion of the Police Commission and does not need to be approved by any town bodies.